Sock Full of Boiled Dimes
09-01-2006, 03:53 AM
I know the name has been taken before, but I felt it was appropriate for my story. No it has nothing to do with the 1930's film or the anime, but my own version.
This is an ongoing series that I'm going to update as much as possible. It's all going to be in its rough form so feel free to correct me.
The Two Boys
Two small children ran through the rain. A father watched over them from inside of the house. The children were no more than five. They jumped through puddles and squished their feet in the mud. Laughter escaped from their mouths as they danced and played in the rain. The father only looked forward and smiled. The children belonged to the two parents of Emily and Jacob Graham.
They all lived several miles away from and large cities or any close civilization that they knew of. Jacob liked it that way and would have rather had his whole life lived outside of the city. The closest civilization they can make it to is Outpost Zero. Outpost Zero lies north of their homestead. Despite being a military outpost it houses civilians and even has stores for supplies and other needs for those living outside of the city. Jacob travels there every week for his family and gets the latest news from soldiers and those living there.
“Hey daddy watch this!” said the white haired child. He did a summersault into a mud puddle.
“That’s good Van, try showing that to your brother!” Jacob yelled back. The two children’s names were Vaniel and Ashiel Graham. They were both twins, but the odd thing was that Vaniel was born with pure while hair and Ashiel was born with jet-black hair. So even though they look just alike they could be told apart easily. Jacob has always called them Van and Ash not wanting to call them by their full names. Emily was the one to give them their full name. She grew up in the Alexi Empire before it was an empire and immigrated over across the Shimmering Desert. She brought along a few customs like how their names are. Her full name is really Emili, but Jacob always called her Emily since he first met her.
“Hey daddy look at that!” called out Ash. Jacob stepped out of his small home and looked in the sky. They sky was blackening as storm clouds were quickly heading their way. Lightning streaked across the sky making a deafening boom.
“Van, Ash, its time to get back in the house!” Jacob called out. Van ran to the house and Ash followed. “Dry yourselves off, okay, I don’t want you guys to be wet when your mom gets home.” Jacob sighed and looked off into the cloudy distance. “Please make it home baby.” He said softly.
Ash looked at Van as he started to brush his teeth over the sink. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and Ash had his draped over his head. Ash had always noticed how Van brushed his teeth in a hard up circular motion. The sound it made always annoyed Ash and Van knew it did. “Why do you always brush your teeth like that? It’s really weird ya know?” Ash said scrubbing his wet hair.
“It helps get my teeth cleaner when I do it in a circular motion rather than up and down like you do?” Van said. He spit into the sink and looked at his teeth.
“Why bother? You’re just going to lose those teeth anyway.”
“The Tooth Princess.”
“The Tooth Princess?”
“Yeah, daddy told me about her when I lost my first tooth.”
“Who is she?”
“She’s this magical princess that no one can see. She lives in the far off land across the Western Ocean in a castle. Each night she sails on her wind boat that can zap her across the Ocean faster than any ship in the world.” Van made a wooshing noise and pushed his hands out. “She comes over and checks her list of all the boys and girls who lost their teeth and goes to their house.”
“I don’t like this story. If this is going to be a scary story Van I don’t wanna hear it.” Ash said pulling the towel over his head.
“It’s not fraidy cat! Daddy wouldn’t of told me it if it was scary.”
“Okay.”
“So this princess sneaks into the house. And if you placed your tooth under your pillow when you slept she gives you money.”
“Really?”
“Yesh,” Van started to brush his teeth again, “Daddy woulnth of tolth me ifth ith wasnth truth.” He spit into the sink again. “I’m trying to get my teeth really clean. When I lose these they’ll be so clean that the princess has to give me extra money.”
“I don’t know if that will work Van.”
“Yeah it will you just watch!” Van went back to his brushing as Ash slowly walked into his room. He put some dry clothes on and fell back on his bed. The thunder was starting to sound more distant. Ash sighed in relief and closed his eyes for a moment. He hated thunderstorms. It didn’t sound natural to him that clouds make those kinds of noises and lights. Van loves thunderstorms, but Ash always hides under his bed when they happen. To make things worse Van would always call Ash a “fraidy cat” if he did.
“Boy’s come into the den quickly!” called Jacob. Ash rolled out of his bed and ran into the den. Van was already in there still wearing his towel. “Your mother got caught in the rainstorm and is broken down just outside of Outpost Zero and I’m gonna have to pick her up.” Ash looked over his father and down the dusty road. He had never actually been far from the house. Van and him would always play a game to see how far they could get down the road before their dad caught them. So far they got to the mail chute. Van said that was to the point where you could “put the house between your fingers”.
“Can we go with you?” Van asked excitingly.
“No Van, Outpost Zero is no place for young boys such as yourselves. I just want you to look over your brother while I am gone okay Van?”
“Okay, Daddy.”
“No matter what I don’t want either of you leaving the house. Do you understand me boys?”
“Yes Daddy.” They both said.
“Oh and I’m not sure if we have to worry about this, but don’t let anyone in the house under and circumstances okay?” They both nodded. “All right I’m gonna get your mother and I’ll be back real soon.” Jacob grabbed his coat and walked out of the house. Ash ran to the window and watched his father get into his hover car.
“Hey Ash lets go play!”
Thirty minutes passed and their father and mother had not come home yet. Ash was watching the screen while Van was bouncing on one foot with a large plastic ball. Ash couldn’t find any cartoons on at this time and it was usually boring adult stuff that he didn’t want to watch. Ash touched the console and flipped through the channels on the screen. He was so bored that he felt like he was going to pop.
“Hey Ash who is that?” Van said looking out the window. Ash turned off the screen and propped himself up on the couch to look out the window. He was quite a distance down the dusty road, but not far enough to where Ash couldn’t make him out. He was a large ebony colored man wearing a long gray coat and a silver colored bowler hat. He looked down with his hands in his pockets walked calmly to their house.
“What do we do?” Ash asked turning to Van.
“Well Daddy said not to let anyone into the house.” Van said.
“What are we going to do then?”
“Let’s hide so the man doesn’t know we’re here.” Van grabbed Ash’s hand and pulled him into the hallway. “Wait that wouldn’t be a good spot. I know where we can go.” He turned around and ran back into the den. He opened up a large wooden cabinet filled with coats and a few boxes. “We’ll hide in here okay.” Van shoved Ash into the cabinet and Van jumped on top of a box. Ash reached out for one door and Van the other as they closed the doors together.
Nothing was happening for a while as they both stood in the cabinet as rigid and unmoving as possible. Ash couldn’t see anything due to the darkness. He wasn’t sure how long they would have to wait and he also had to pee badly. He turned to Van who was looking onward unmoving and stiff. He moved his head over slightly and started to whisper in his ear.
“Is he gone yet?”
“Be quite I can see him at the door.” Van whispered.
“How can you see him?”
‘There is a crack in this door and I can see him looking in.” Ash shuttered as fear gripped him. All of a sudden their front door opened as the man stepped into the house. Ash couldn’t hold it in anymore and he started to wet himself. Trying not to move to get noticed Ash just let it go. Even with the man in the house the only thing Ash was worried about was Van noticing. They could hear the footsteps of two more people enter the house. Van’s breathing became shallow and Ash tried his best not to cry.
“Is the father gone?” a deep voice bellowed out.
“Yes sir, we sent out a distress signal in disguise of his wife. He should be at Outpost Zero by now.” Said a younger voice.
“Good, are you sure this is the right place? Are you sure this is where the children live?”
“Yes sir, we extracted the information from Emili.”
“How did you manage to accomplish that?” asked a different voice. This voice sounded more foreign than local.
“Right about the time we start to show her severed fingers to her.” The young voice let out a chuckle.
Ash’s eyes widened as he heard what the young man said. He wanted to cry out, but Van quickly covered his mouth. Each time Ash screamed out in tears Van pushed tighter against Ash’s mouth. Van bit down hard on his lower lip as tears starts to come down his face. Van could see the large man. He was looking right at him. He had strange eyes that were darkened by a black tattoo. His eyes were the strangest eyes he had ever seen. It scared Van so much. He just wanted his father to come home as soon as possible.
“Shut up.” Said the deep voice. The sound of footsteps began to creep closer and closer to the cabinet. Ash and Van closed their eyes tightly as the sounds stopped right in front of the doors. All of a sudden a loud bang burst came from the front door. There was a dull thud that followed.
“Oh Shi-!” Another loud bang was heard followed by a dull thud.
“Jacob I didn’t expect you back so early.” Said the deep voiced man.
“Soin you’re the last God forsaken person I ever wanted to see.” Jacob said.
“Put down the gun and lets talk. My employers have sent me-“
“I know about the damned employers and don’t need no speech again. I expect you best give me two good reasons why I shouldn’t blast you to hell where you stand.”
“Well for one I am holding your wife and two,” he paused, “your sons are right behind me.” There was silence for a moment.
“All right tell me why you are here then.”
“Your sons have attracted a lot of attention for potential buyers. Particularly the firm I work for. They are especially interested in your son’s special talents.”
“What about them?”
“They figured that with a good amount of training and an environment where they can best tune their gifts that they can become great assets to our firm. Their services can quite possibly make our firm the biggest one in Metropolis. We are willing to buy your sons off of you for a large sum of money.”
“Buy my boys?”
“Yes, don’t worry this isn’t like a slave operation or anything of the sort. Your boys will be well taken care of. We will give them the finest living conditions and keep them well fed. Their minds will be stimulated as well as their bodies in peak condition. Your and your wife can come visit them once a month of course.” He paused, “If she survives that is.”
“What did you do!?”
“Don’t get hasty Jacob. I am willing to transfer over 500 million credits into your account per child. Are you interested?”
“Not interested.” A loud blast was heard as Soin was knocked back into the doors. The boys were still and not sure what to do. Ash and Van stood frozen in fear. All of a sudden Soin quickly jumped up and lunged after Jacob. Jacob gasped and grunted as he fell over.
“Daddy!” Screamed Van. He pushed the door open and ran to Soin. He was standing over Jacob with a bloody knife in hand. In a swift move, that not even Ash could see, Soin knocked Van out with the butt of the blade.
“V...Van!” Cried Jacob. “Ash…r…run…get out of here boy. RUN!” Ash mustering up all he had left leaped out of the closet and ran as fast as he could out of the front door. He ran down the dusty road kicking up a dust trail behind him. He looked back and could see the man with the eyes staring at him through the doorway. He looked directly at Ash’s soul, which caused him to run even faster. Ash ran to the mail chute and passed it. He ran as far as his little legs could carry him.
This is an ongoing series that I'm going to update as much as possible. It's all going to be in its rough form so feel free to correct me.
The Two Boys
Two small children ran through the rain. A father watched over them from inside of the house. The children were no more than five. They jumped through puddles and squished their feet in the mud. Laughter escaped from their mouths as they danced and played in the rain. The father only looked forward and smiled. The children belonged to the two parents of Emily and Jacob Graham.
They all lived several miles away from and large cities or any close civilization that they knew of. Jacob liked it that way and would have rather had his whole life lived outside of the city. The closest civilization they can make it to is Outpost Zero. Outpost Zero lies north of their homestead. Despite being a military outpost it houses civilians and even has stores for supplies and other needs for those living outside of the city. Jacob travels there every week for his family and gets the latest news from soldiers and those living there.
“Hey daddy watch this!” said the white haired child. He did a summersault into a mud puddle.
“That’s good Van, try showing that to your brother!” Jacob yelled back. The two children’s names were Vaniel and Ashiel Graham. They were both twins, but the odd thing was that Vaniel was born with pure while hair and Ashiel was born with jet-black hair. So even though they look just alike they could be told apart easily. Jacob has always called them Van and Ash not wanting to call them by their full names. Emily was the one to give them their full name. She grew up in the Alexi Empire before it was an empire and immigrated over across the Shimmering Desert. She brought along a few customs like how their names are. Her full name is really Emili, but Jacob always called her Emily since he first met her.
“Hey daddy look at that!” called out Ash. Jacob stepped out of his small home and looked in the sky. They sky was blackening as storm clouds were quickly heading their way. Lightning streaked across the sky making a deafening boom.
“Van, Ash, its time to get back in the house!” Jacob called out. Van ran to the house and Ash followed. “Dry yourselves off, okay, I don’t want you guys to be wet when your mom gets home.” Jacob sighed and looked off into the cloudy distance. “Please make it home baby.” He said softly.
Ash looked at Van as he started to brush his teeth over the sink. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and Ash had his draped over his head. Ash had always noticed how Van brushed his teeth in a hard up circular motion. The sound it made always annoyed Ash and Van knew it did. “Why do you always brush your teeth like that? It’s really weird ya know?” Ash said scrubbing his wet hair.
“It helps get my teeth cleaner when I do it in a circular motion rather than up and down like you do?” Van said. He spit into the sink and looked at his teeth.
“Why bother? You’re just going to lose those teeth anyway.”
“The Tooth Princess.”
“The Tooth Princess?”
“Yeah, daddy told me about her when I lost my first tooth.”
“Who is she?”
“She’s this magical princess that no one can see. She lives in the far off land across the Western Ocean in a castle. Each night she sails on her wind boat that can zap her across the Ocean faster than any ship in the world.” Van made a wooshing noise and pushed his hands out. “She comes over and checks her list of all the boys and girls who lost their teeth and goes to their house.”
“I don’t like this story. If this is going to be a scary story Van I don’t wanna hear it.” Ash said pulling the towel over his head.
“It’s not fraidy cat! Daddy wouldn’t of told me it if it was scary.”
“Okay.”
“So this princess sneaks into the house. And if you placed your tooth under your pillow when you slept she gives you money.”
“Really?”
“Yesh,” Van started to brush his teeth again, “Daddy woulnth of tolth me ifth ith wasnth truth.” He spit into the sink again. “I’m trying to get my teeth really clean. When I lose these they’ll be so clean that the princess has to give me extra money.”
“I don’t know if that will work Van.”
“Yeah it will you just watch!” Van went back to his brushing as Ash slowly walked into his room. He put some dry clothes on and fell back on his bed. The thunder was starting to sound more distant. Ash sighed in relief and closed his eyes for a moment. He hated thunderstorms. It didn’t sound natural to him that clouds make those kinds of noises and lights. Van loves thunderstorms, but Ash always hides under his bed when they happen. To make things worse Van would always call Ash a “fraidy cat” if he did.
“Boy’s come into the den quickly!” called Jacob. Ash rolled out of his bed and ran into the den. Van was already in there still wearing his towel. “Your mother got caught in the rainstorm and is broken down just outside of Outpost Zero and I’m gonna have to pick her up.” Ash looked over his father and down the dusty road. He had never actually been far from the house. Van and him would always play a game to see how far they could get down the road before their dad caught them. So far they got to the mail chute. Van said that was to the point where you could “put the house between your fingers”.
“Can we go with you?” Van asked excitingly.
“No Van, Outpost Zero is no place for young boys such as yourselves. I just want you to look over your brother while I am gone okay Van?”
“Okay, Daddy.”
“No matter what I don’t want either of you leaving the house. Do you understand me boys?”
“Yes Daddy.” They both said.
“Oh and I’m not sure if we have to worry about this, but don’t let anyone in the house under and circumstances okay?” They both nodded. “All right I’m gonna get your mother and I’ll be back real soon.” Jacob grabbed his coat and walked out of the house. Ash ran to the window and watched his father get into his hover car.
“Hey Ash lets go play!”
Thirty minutes passed and their father and mother had not come home yet. Ash was watching the screen while Van was bouncing on one foot with a large plastic ball. Ash couldn’t find any cartoons on at this time and it was usually boring adult stuff that he didn’t want to watch. Ash touched the console and flipped through the channels on the screen. He was so bored that he felt like he was going to pop.
“Hey Ash who is that?” Van said looking out the window. Ash turned off the screen and propped himself up on the couch to look out the window. He was quite a distance down the dusty road, but not far enough to where Ash couldn’t make him out. He was a large ebony colored man wearing a long gray coat and a silver colored bowler hat. He looked down with his hands in his pockets walked calmly to their house.
“What do we do?” Ash asked turning to Van.
“Well Daddy said not to let anyone into the house.” Van said.
“What are we going to do then?”
“Let’s hide so the man doesn’t know we’re here.” Van grabbed Ash’s hand and pulled him into the hallway. “Wait that wouldn’t be a good spot. I know where we can go.” He turned around and ran back into the den. He opened up a large wooden cabinet filled with coats and a few boxes. “We’ll hide in here okay.” Van shoved Ash into the cabinet and Van jumped on top of a box. Ash reached out for one door and Van the other as they closed the doors together.
Nothing was happening for a while as they both stood in the cabinet as rigid and unmoving as possible. Ash couldn’t see anything due to the darkness. He wasn’t sure how long they would have to wait and he also had to pee badly. He turned to Van who was looking onward unmoving and stiff. He moved his head over slightly and started to whisper in his ear.
“Is he gone yet?”
“Be quite I can see him at the door.” Van whispered.
“How can you see him?”
‘There is a crack in this door and I can see him looking in.” Ash shuttered as fear gripped him. All of a sudden their front door opened as the man stepped into the house. Ash couldn’t hold it in anymore and he started to wet himself. Trying not to move to get noticed Ash just let it go. Even with the man in the house the only thing Ash was worried about was Van noticing. They could hear the footsteps of two more people enter the house. Van’s breathing became shallow and Ash tried his best not to cry.
“Is the father gone?” a deep voice bellowed out.
“Yes sir, we sent out a distress signal in disguise of his wife. He should be at Outpost Zero by now.” Said a younger voice.
“Good, are you sure this is the right place? Are you sure this is where the children live?”
“Yes sir, we extracted the information from Emili.”
“How did you manage to accomplish that?” asked a different voice. This voice sounded more foreign than local.
“Right about the time we start to show her severed fingers to her.” The young voice let out a chuckle.
Ash’s eyes widened as he heard what the young man said. He wanted to cry out, but Van quickly covered his mouth. Each time Ash screamed out in tears Van pushed tighter against Ash’s mouth. Van bit down hard on his lower lip as tears starts to come down his face. Van could see the large man. He was looking right at him. He had strange eyes that were darkened by a black tattoo. His eyes were the strangest eyes he had ever seen. It scared Van so much. He just wanted his father to come home as soon as possible.
“Shut up.” Said the deep voice. The sound of footsteps began to creep closer and closer to the cabinet. Ash and Van closed their eyes tightly as the sounds stopped right in front of the doors. All of a sudden a loud bang burst came from the front door. There was a dull thud that followed.
“Oh Shi-!” Another loud bang was heard followed by a dull thud.
“Jacob I didn’t expect you back so early.” Said the deep voiced man.
“Soin you’re the last God forsaken person I ever wanted to see.” Jacob said.
“Put down the gun and lets talk. My employers have sent me-“
“I know about the damned employers and don’t need no speech again. I expect you best give me two good reasons why I shouldn’t blast you to hell where you stand.”
“Well for one I am holding your wife and two,” he paused, “your sons are right behind me.” There was silence for a moment.
“All right tell me why you are here then.”
“Your sons have attracted a lot of attention for potential buyers. Particularly the firm I work for. They are especially interested in your son’s special talents.”
“What about them?”
“They figured that with a good amount of training and an environment where they can best tune their gifts that they can become great assets to our firm. Their services can quite possibly make our firm the biggest one in Metropolis. We are willing to buy your sons off of you for a large sum of money.”
“Buy my boys?”
“Yes, don’t worry this isn’t like a slave operation or anything of the sort. Your boys will be well taken care of. We will give them the finest living conditions and keep them well fed. Their minds will be stimulated as well as their bodies in peak condition. Your and your wife can come visit them once a month of course.” He paused, “If she survives that is.”
“What did you do!?”
“Don’t get hasty Jacob. I am willing to transfer over 500 million credits into your account per child. Are you interested?”
“Not interested.” A loud blast was heard as Soin was knocked back into the doors. The boys were still and not sure what to do. Ash and Van stood frozen in fear. All of a sudden Soin quickly jumped up and lunged after Jacob. Jacob gasped and grunted as he fell over.
“Daddy!” Screamed Van. He pushed the door open and ran to Soin. He was standing over Jacob with a bloody knife in hand. In a swift move, that not even Ash could see, Soin knocked Van out with the butt of the blade.
“V...Van!” Cried Jacob. “Ash…r…run…get out of here boy. RUN!” Ash mustering up all he had left leaped out of the closet and ran as fast as he could out of the front door. He ran down the dusty road kicking up a dust trail behind him. He looked back and could see the man with the eyes staring at him through the doorway. He looked directly at Ash’s soul, which caused him to run even faster. Ash ran to the mail chute and passed it. He ran as far as his little legs could carry him.